Eco Baltia opens PET recycling plant in Latvia

Eco Baltia, the leading integrated waste management firm in the Baltic States has launched an 8,500 tpa recycled PET production plant in Jelgava, south of the Latvian capital Riga.

The Riga-based group, which collects, sorts and recycles plastics waste material, has invested 5.3 million euros to establish the new PET facility through its recycling subsidiary Eko Baltija.

Eko Baltija's new facility has the capacity to turn out enough PET chips to make 270 million bottles, well over Latvia's current annual consumption of around 160 million PET bottles. The group plans to sell part of its output to the neighboring Baltic State of Estonia, it said.

"This is the only facility of its kind in the Baltic States," said Eco Baltia group's chairman and chief executive Artūrs Skroderis.

The group has expansion plans for recycling. PET Baltija aims to develop crystallized PET pellets that can be used for food industry packaging and Nordic Plast wants to add a new line to make polypropylene pellets from woven bags. Eco Baltia, which is seeking acquisitions in its region, also aims to recycle construction waste, it said.

In March 2013, Eco Baltia group consolidated its waste collection businesses with the merger of three subsidiaries: Jūrmalas ATU, Eko Rīga and Kurzemes ainava to form Eco Baltia Vide. It serves 30,000 customers across 22 regions of Latvia.

The merger was aimed at improving group services, boosting its competitiveness and ensuring "growth and development sustainability", Eco Baltia stated.

In 2011, the group recorded a net profit of 4.8 million euros on consolidated annual sales of around 37.8 million euros. Today, more than half of its revenue is generated from the growing waste recycling segment.